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Another leadership crisis if Azmin chooses DAP or Pas

KUALA LUMPUR – June 10, 2015: There is a possibility that Selangor will be plunged into another leadership crisis if PKR is forced to choose either DAP or Pas as its partner if the Pakatan coalition collapses.

Political analysts predicted that a crisis, worse in magnitude to the one which happened last year will hit the state if Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali decides to choose between the two quarelling PKR’s ally to govern the state.

The ‘choose-only-one ultimatum’ had been given to Azmin by Selangor DAP chief Tony Pua and former Pas information chief Datuk Mahfuz Omar yesterday.

Both were quoted as pointing out that Azmin could not now possibly work with both parties.

According to Prof Datuk Dr Sulaiman Md Yassin of Universiti Putra Malaysia, the possibility of another political upheavel akin to last year’s Selangor Menteri Besar crisis is highly likely if Azmin gave in to such an ultimatum because the administrative climate of Selangor is highly dependent on the stability of the Pakatan coalition.

“I won’t speculate which party Azmin will likely choose as it does not matter anyway, because whichever he picks…leadership disarray would be the next thing to happen.

“Knowing that, he (Azmin) will likely try to resolve the dispute and mitigate the acrimony between Pas and DAP,” Sulaiman said.

He predicted that Azmin would use the “for-the-sake-of-Pakatan” laden rhetoric to calm the feuding parties.

Being of the same opinion as Sulaiman on the effect of Azmin having to choose between DAP and Pas, he said not only will Selangor be experiencing another leadership crisis but Pakatan could also potentially lose their grip on the state.

“Pakatan’s Selangor government would be weakened regardless of which party PKR chooses to work with, as it would lose its two third majority (in the state legislative assembly).

“Mathematically speaking, PKR would still be able to form a state government should it choose to side with either Pas or DAP as such partnership will still command the majority of state seats.

“However, what if the party that PKR had cast aside decided to form a coalition with Barisan (BN)…then the differences in number of state seats between both sides would be too small,” said Mohd Azizudin.

He added that if such prediction came true, then BN would only need to convince several representatives from the remaining Pakatan side to switch over in order to form a new state government.

When asked on the possibility of Selangor conducting fresh elections to avoid such a leadership crisis, Mohd Azizudin said “a fresh election is highly unlikely.”

“You see, fresh election is only done when there are no other alternative. The way I see it, it is too early for anyone to suggest that.

“Besides, they (those in favour of a fresh election) would need the agreement of the state’s Sultan. As it is now, I don’t think the Sultan would give a green light to such a request,” he said.

Despite Mohd Azizudin’s contention that a fresh state election has more banes than boons, many Selangorians who discussed the issue in cyberspace appear to be in favor of it.

The Original Mikey commented: “Azmin should dissolve the state council and call for an election. This will allow the people to decide which party should rule Selangor. This way he does not have to choose. Let the people do it…and I am waiting eagerly to make my choice.”

JamesBongJB wrote: “It is better to lose the state than to sleep with an unfaithful party. Go for state poll and see if PAS worth its salt alone. Bet my last dollar, they become irrelevant.”

Lokau: “MB should dissolve the Selangor state assembly. Let the people judge who they prefer, DAP or PAS? Azmin should then work with the party that win the most seats. This would be a better way for Azmin to decide now that PAS does not want to work with DAP.”

The infamous Selangor MB issue occurred last year when PKR expelled Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim from the state chief executive post for disobeying party orders to make way for party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the new Selangor MB.

After months of uncertainty and acrimony between the Pakatan allies, instead of Dr Wan Azizah, it was Azmin who was the one collectively endorsed by the coalition leadership to take over the MB post.

About the author

Zaidi Azmi

Despite becoming The MOLE's journalist in 2014, he still has a hard time traversing the city. If he is not lost, this northern kampung boy can be found struggling to make some sense out of the Malaysian political sphere.